The Flightless Crow
by WingsofRequiem
Summary: Months have passed since the Nocturne Incident, and yet, the Crow remains grounded, its wings torn asunder and it's spirit shattered into a million fragments. The Explorer, however, won't give up this fight. Not as long as he remains breathing. Spin-Off that takes place after the events of Darkness Rising. Ezreal x Eraya (OC). Drama, Romance, Angst, Depression, Lemons, Depth.


**Yo guys, Its me Wings again.  
>So, after seeing how much of a fan-favourite this pairing was in my last story, Darkness Rising, as well as how much I enjoyed writing about them, I decided to do a small fic dedicated to them!<br>**

**Be warned, though, this story will be quite deep and will go very far into the rabbit hole of sadness and depression.**

**kthnxenjoi  
>Eraya waifu is best waifu.<strong>

**And yes, I did draw the cover art of this story. It's Crow/Eraya and Ezreal.**

**- Wings Senpai**

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><p><span><strong>The Flightless Crow<strong>

**Prologue**

How long had it been? A day? A week? A month? No… It had been half a year since that fateful day. Those days that had changed her life so much.

Eraya sat on the bed, supported up by the wall which the bed was placed against, a pillow providing sufficient comfort between her back and the wall. She stared outside through the window, watching the rainy morning sky, her face impassive yet the inevitable. So much time had passed… In the many months that had passed, her hair had regrown a few inches, though it was still short. Ezreal's hair had begun to turn back to its golden color ever so slowly, strand by strand. She did not know about anyone else who were connected to that day. She hadn't heard from them recently.

There was a noise; the sound of the front door opening and closing. The soft footfalls became steadily louder until the door to her bedroom opened. Ezreal walked in, as his gaze met Eraya's. Eraya managed a weak smile but it crumpled back into a sorrow-filled expression of longing as Ezreal grimaced. "How are you?" Ezreal asked in a low voice as he walked over to her bedside table. He took the vase filled with the dying flowers and took them out, replacing them with a fresh bouquet of white lilies he had just brought.  
>"I'm fine…" She said, her voice breaking near the end as her lips trembled, in an effort to give him another smile, but she didn't manage it. Ezreal sighed, sitting down on the bed next to Eraya has both his hand and her sought each other out unconsciously, his hand clasping her hand gently. She felt so frail, so delicate.<p>

About 6 months had passed since Eraya was saved from the brink of death from the poison that almost killed her. Though the Demacian medics had done the best they could, she had been left with lasting effects. 6 months had passed and she was still unable to walk more than a few numbered steps. Even the traces of the fierce woman she had once been had slowly eroded away as the weeks had passed with no improvement. She had kept a fighting spirit up as long as she could until she finally collapsed into the depression she was in now. Her body, once toned with hard, lean muscles, had softened into a porcelain-like fragility.

He had tried to keep her spirits up as best as he could. He brought her flowers every morning, did most of the cooking, spent time with her whenever he could… But now that the League was no more, Ezreal had to work a lot, deciphering encrypted codexs, drawing out detailed blueprints of an area or pathing out a map through a dangerous place. It wasn't easy work back when he lived alone, now he had to work twice as hard to support both. He wasn't scraping by, but he wasn't really living the high life either.

Eraya felt even worse about that. There had been many times when she'd asked him to stop taking care of her, to let her help him. But every time she tried, she had failed, collapsing after a few steps or after even the easiest of works. She hated burdening him like this, hated being so useless. Her crossbow sat upon the desk across the room, gathering dust. It was an ever-present object to mock her and what she had become. She would stare at it and she could literally hear a voice inside her head saying, _'You used to wield that crossbow. You were such a strong person… Now you're a sniveling little bird with broken wings.'_

It was true, Eraya had spent many nights burying her face into her pillow, crying silent tears in frustration at why she couldn't do anything, and for the pain she was giving to Ezreal. Ezreal didn't know about it, but he knew that she was a broken person now, nothing but a shadow of what she had been months ago.

Now, she was a bird who had her wings torn off. Basically, she was a doomed little thing, pitiful and weak.  
>"Did you take your morning dose?" Ezreal asked as Eraya nodded slowly. "What's the point anyway… Its not like I'm getting better." She said in a low voice as she brought her knees up, hugging them close to her chest and burying her face into the crook. Ezreal tentatively wrapped an arm around her and brought her close, his touches feather-light as if the slightest of force could shatter her. She relented, leaning onto Ezreal's chest as she kept her face buried in her knees.<p>

"Why am I like this, Ezreal… Why am I so weak." She said as Ezreal lowered his head. "You're not weak, Eraya. You're the strongest person I know." He said as Eraya raised her head slightly, shaking her head. "No… Luxanna was the strongest person we both knew… You deserved her, yet you got stuck with me."

"I did not get stuck with you. I chose to be stand beside you."  
>"Why? You could've lived a happy life without me dragging you down."<br>"Don't you dare say that, Eraya. You know why I did what I did."  
>"I just.." Eraya's voice choked as a small sob escaped her, tears slowly coming out of her eyes. "I just don't want you to suffer so much just because of me…" She broke into earnest tears now, sobs wracking her body as Ezreal embraced her, Eraya allowing herself to be pulled into his chest as she buried her face into his shirt, crying as Ezreal patted her back. "I'm not suffering, Eraya. Don't think like that. Because I know one day you're going to get better."<p>

His words weren't met with another reply as Eraya kept crying into his shirt, her soft cries being echoed by the fall of the raindrops outside as the gray, bleak day continued to become even bleaker. Ezreal sighed as he clenched his free hand into a fist, completely at a loss of what to do. He felt helpless, being unable to do anything for her. Because, as sickened as he was by the thought, he agreed with Eraya subconsciously.

She was naught but a flightless bird now, destined to stay grounded.

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><p><strong>Prologues are meant to be short, yo! The first chapter is in the works, so expect it soon!<strong>

**Do leave behind a review~ I'd love to know your thoughts on the chapter, the story itself or about me (I know I'm sexy, staph it you ^^ )**

**Fly High, readers.**

**- Wings Senpai**


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